Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 11, 2013 is: meretricious \mair-uh-TRISH-us\ adjective 1 : of or relating to a prostitute : having the nature of prostitution 2 a : tawdrily and falsely attractive b : superficially significant : pretentious Examples: The critic panned the book as a well-written but meretricious work with little substance beneath its veneer of forceful rhetoric and righteous indignation. "In his hands, works by Respighi and Arvo Pärt that generally sound cheesy or meretricious—at least to this listener—suddenly seemed worthy of, if not affection, then at least respect and indulgence." — From a music review by Joshua Kosman in The San Francisco Chronicle, October 6, 2012 Did you know? "Meretricious" can be traced back to the Latin verb "merēre," meaning "to earn, gain, or deserve." It shares this origin with a small group of other English words, including "merit," meritorious," and "emeritus." But, while these words can suggest some degree of honor or esteem, "meretricious" is used to suggest pretense, insincerity, and cheap or tawdry ornamentation. The Latin "merēre" is at the root of the Latin noun "meretrix," meaning "prostitute," and its related adjective "meretricius" ("of or relating to a prostitute"). The Latin "meretricius" entered into English as "meretricious" in the 17th century. Shortly after being adopted, "meretricious" also began to be used to indicate things which are superficially attractive but which have little or no value or integrity.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 10, 2013 is: reprove \rih-PROOV\ verb 1 : to scold or correct usually gently or with kindly intent 2 : to express disapproval of : censure 3 : to express rebuke or reproof Examples: "Remember to say 'thank you,'" the mother gently reproved her toddler. "He reproved me, good-naturedly: 'Well, I don't think it's very nice to make fun of my accent!' Chastened, I assured him it was involuntary and that it was a form of homage, not disrespect." — From an article by John Weeks in Contra Costa Times, January 8, 2013 Did you know? "Reprove," "rebuke," "reprimand," "admonish," "reproach," and "chide" all mean to criticize. "Reprove" implies an often kindly intent to correct a fault. "Rebuke" suggests a sharp or stern criticism (as in "the letter rebuked her opponents"). "Reprimand" implies a severe, formal, often public or official rebuke ("he was reprimanded by the ethics committee"). "Admonish" suggests earnest or friendly warning and counsel ("admonished to control expenses"). "Reproach" and "chide" suggest displeasure or disappointment expressed in mild scolding ("reproached him for tardiness" and "chided by their mother for untidiness"). Incidentally, the resemblance of "reprove" to "prove" is not coincidental—both words can be traced back to the Latin "probar" ("to test" or "to approve").

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 09, 2013 is: froufrou \FROO-froo\ noun 1 : a rustling especially of a woman's skirts 2 : showy or frilly ornamentation Examples: Styled in the manner of a Victorian mansion, the bed-and-breakfast featured so much froufrou that Darlene and Brian dared not touch a thing. "Indeed, there was less froufrou on display over all, a development that may—at least in the short term—bury the tired question of whether haute couture is relevant and instead focus attention on what makes it exciting." — From an article by Amy Verner in The Globe and Mail (Canada), July 14, 2012 Did you know? Nineteenth-century Europe featured a lot of sophisticated fashions—especially in Paris, a city considered by many to be the fashion capital of the world. Women's dresses were often made of drooping layers of fabric (such as satin or silk) that rustled as the women moved around, and "froufrou" was the French word coined in imitation of the sound they made. The word made its first appearance in English in 1870 as a noun meaning "rustling." It later came to mean "ostentatious decoration," and its usage expanded beyond the world of fashion to other crafts such as architecture and interior design. These days it also shows up as the adjective "frou-frou," meaning "very heavily decorated and fancy," as in "frou-frou designs."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 08, 2013 is: métier \MET-yay\ noun 1 : vocation, trade 2 : an area of activity in which one excels : forte Examples: Within a short time of Sonia's first piano lessons, it was clear to her parents that music was her métier. "The protagonist in [Cary] Fagan's first story ... is a judge on the Ontario Supreme Court who handles sensational cases and is widely admired for his devotion to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. What we learn is that his life as a judge is merely a sideshow to the métier he really cares about: being a magician." — From a book review by Jennifer Hunter in the Toronto Star, January 6, 2013 Did you know? The words "métier," "employment," "occupation," and "calling" all perform similar functions in English, though each word gets the job done in its own way. These hard-working synonyms can all refer to a specific sustained activity, especially an activity engaged in to earn a living, but these words also have slightly different shades of meaning. "Employment" implies simply that one was hired and is being paid by an employer, whereas "occupation" usually suggests special training, and "calling" generally applies to an occupation viewed as a vocation or profession. "Métier," a French borrowing acquired by English speakers in the late 18th century, typically implies a calling for which one feels especially fitted.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 07, 2013 is: lackluster \LAK-luss-ter\ adjective : lacking in sheen, brilliance, or vitality : dull, mediocre Examples: In spite of its owner's hard work, the little shop was forced to close due to lackluster sales. "After a lackluster first half, the Cabrillo girls water polo team began to find the net and pulled away from Paso Robles, on the way to a 14-9 non-league win at the Cabrillo high pool." — From an article by Brad Memberto in the Santa Maria Times (California), December 13, 2012 Did you know? In its earliest uses, "lackluster" (also spelled "lacklustre") usually described the eyes or face, as in "a lackluster stare." Later, it came to describe other things whose sheen had been removed; Charles Dickens, in his 1843 novel Martin Chuzzlewit, writes of the faded image of the dragon on the sign outside a village alehouse: "many a wintry storm of rain, snow, sleet, and hail, had changed his colour from a gaudy blue to a faint lack-lustre shade of grey." In addition to "a glow or sheen," "luster" can refer to a superficial attractiveness or appearance of excellence; it follows that "lackluster" is often used as a synonym for "unspectacular," as in our examples.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 06, 2013 is: factotum \fak-TOH-tuhm\ noun 1 : a person having many diverse activities or responsibilities 2 : a general servant Examples: After graduating from college, Jerry worked for several years as an office factotum. "It also was in contrast to the burgeoning and ballooning bureaucracy of the bank, which may not have rivaled the U.N. in its quantity of factotums, but still has swelled to more than 10,000 employees." — From an article by Zachary Karabell on The Daily Beast, March 24, 2012 Did you know? "Do everything!" That's a tall order, but it is exactly what a factotum is expected to do. It's also a literal translation of the New Latin term "factotum," which in turn traces to the Latin words "facere" ("to do") and "totum" ("everything"). In the 16th century, "factotum" was used in English much like a surname, paired with first names to create personalities such as "Johannes Factotum" (literally "John Do-everything"). Back then, it wasn't necessarily desirable to be called a "factotum"; the term was a synonym of "meddler" or "busybody." Now the word is more often used for a handy, versatile individual responsible for many different tasks.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 05, 2013 is: sangfroid \SAHNG-FRWAH\ noun : self-possession or imperturbability especially under strain Examples: The lecturer's sangfroid never faltered, even in the face of some tough questions from the audience. "Daniel Craig portrays a vulnerability far removed from the glib sangfroid of his celluloid predecessors and has retired to an exotic bolt-hole after he is assumed to have died during a botched operation." — From a movie review by Des O' Neill in the Irish Times, January 2, 2013 Did you know? If you're a lizard, "cold-blooded" means your body temperature is strongly influenced by your environment. If you're an English-speaking human, it means you are callous and unfeeling. If you're a French speaker, it means that you're calm, cool, and collected in stressful situations. By the mid-1700s, English speakers had already been using "cold-blooded" for more than a century, but they must have liked the more positive spin the French put on having "cold blood" because they borrowed the French "sang-froid" (literally, "cold blood") for someone who is imperturbable under strain. The French term, by the way, developed from the Latin words "sanguis" ("blood") and "frigidus" ("cold").

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 04, 2013 is: eurytopic \yur-ih-TAH-pik\ adjective : tolerant of wide variation in one or more environmental factors Examples: Eurytopic groups are observed in a wide range of habitats. "Eurytopic species tend to have longer geologic ranges than stenotopic ones because they are more likely to survive environmental disturbances and therefore persist through time." — From Ronald Martin's 2013 book Earth's Evolving Systems Did you know? "Eurytopic" evolved in the 1930s along with "stenotopic," which means "having a narrow range of adaptability to changes in environmental conditions." Both words are rooted in Greek, with "eurys" meaning "broad" or "wide," "stenos" meaning "close" or "narrow," and "topos" meaning "place." Eurytopic species can typically be found in a broad range of places. An example would be the perch, a fish that can be found in ponds, lakes, streams, and rivers. By contrast, stenotopic species inhabit a narrow region. Examples include the rare Spoon-billed Sandpiper as well as the plants, animals, and other organisms bearing a specific area-related name, such as the Indiana Bat.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 03, 2013 is: redolent \RED-uh-lunt\ adjective 1 : exuding fragrance : aromatic 2 a : full of a specified fragrance : scented b : evocative, suggestive Examples: The house was redolent with the aroma of baking bread. "Clam chowder, redolent of sweet cream and thick with clams and diced carrots, was a hearty companion for the numerous panini (which can be made with gluten-free bread)." — From a restaurant review by Christina Mueller in the Marin Independent Journal, January 2, 2013 Did you know? "Redolent" traces back to the Latin verb "olēre" ("to smell") and is a relative of "olfactory" ("of, relating to, or connected with the sense of smell"). In its earliest English uses in the 15th century, "redolent" simply meant "having an aroma." Today, it usually applies to a place or thing impregnated with odors. It can also be used of something that reminds us of something else or evokes a certain emotional response, as in "a city redolent of antiquity."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 02, 2013 is: largesse \larh-ZHESS\ noun 1 : liberal giving (as of money) to or as if to an inferior; also : something so given 2 : generosity Examples: Thanks to their grandparents' largesse, both children were able to go to college. "Just how heavily a borrower may rely on family largess to cover a down payment depends on the type of mortgage involved and the size of the gift. With a conventional loan, lenders require that borrowers contribute at least 5 percent of their own money." — From an article by Lisa Prevost in New York Times, January 2, 2013 Did you know? The word "largesse," which also can be spelled "largess" (as in our second example sentence), has been part of the English language since at least the 13th century. It derives via Anglo-French from the Latin word "largus," meaning "abundant" or "generous." "Largus" is also the source of our word "large." As far back as the 14th century, we used the word "largeness" as a synonym of "largesse" ("liberal giving"). In fact, that may have been the first sense of "largeness," which has since come to refer to physical magnitude and bulk more often than to magnanimity.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 01, 2013 is: amortize \AM-er-tyze\ verb 1 : to pay off (as a mortgage) gradually usually by periodic payments of principal and interest or by payments to a sinking fund 2 : to gradually reduce or write off the cost or value of (as an asset) Examples: "It's time we made permanent decisions on policy that begin to amortize and reduce our debt over time...." — Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA) on CNBC's "Squawk Box," January 4, 2013 "As early as 1990-91, the government began to amortize the surplus to better reflect the pension liabilities it would be on the hook for in the future." — From an article by Kathryn May in the Ottawa Citizen, December 20, 2012 Did you know? When you amortize a loan, you "kill it off" gradually by paying it down in installments. This is reflected in the word's etymology. "Amortize" derives via Middle English and Anglo-French from Vulgar Latin "admortire," meaning "to kill." The Latin noun "mors" ("death") is a root of "admortire"; it is related to our word "murder," and it also gave us a word naming a kind of loan that is usually amortized: "mortgage." "Amortize" carries a different meaning in the field of corporate finance, where it means to depreciate the cost or value of an asset (as, for example, to reduce interest revenue on that asset for tax purposes).

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 31, 2013 is: jabberwocky \JAB-er-wah-kee\ noun : meaningless speech or writing Examples: "The salesman started spewing computer jabberwocky at me like an auctioneer. I understood about every sixth word he uttered."— From an article by Larry D. Clifton in The Tampa Tribune, September 6, 1998 "When LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh stepped into the crowded room, fashionably late, jabberwocky ceased and the only sound you heard was the whir and click of cameras."— From an article by Greg Cote in The Miami Herald, September 28, 2010 Did you know? In a poem titled "Jabberwocky" in the book Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There (1872), Lewis Carroll warned his readers about a frightful beast: Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun The frumious Bandersnatch! This nonsensical poem caught the public's fancy, and by 1902 "jabberwocky" was being used as a generic term for meaningless speech or writing. The word "bandersnatch" has also seen some use as a general noun, with the meaning "a wildly grotesque or bizarre individual." It's a much rarer word than "jabberwocky," though, and is entered only in our unabridged dictionary, Webster’s Third New International.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 30, 2013 is: mala fide \mal-uh-FYE-dee\ adverb or adjective : with or in bad faith Examples: The company's board is accused of acting mala fide and with criminal intentions. "NTC analyzes each traveler's risk before departure to identify ... criminal activity, fraud, and other mala fide travelers, including U.S. citizens." — From a document in Congressional Documents and Publications, September 11, 2012 Did you know? You may be familiar with the more commonly used "bona fide" (boh-nuh-FYE-dee), which can mean "made in good faith" (as in "a bona fide agreement") or "genuine or real" ("a bona fide miracle"). You also may have encountered the noun "bona fides," used in reference to evidence of a person's good faith, genuineness, qualifications, or achievements. Not surprisingly, in Latin "bona fide" means "in good faith" and "mala fide" means "in bad faith." These days "mala fide," which dates from the mid-16th century, tends to turn up primarily in legal contexts.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 29, 2013 is: nomothetic \nah-muh-THET-ik\ adjective : relating to, involving, or dealing with abstract, general, or universal statements or laws Examples: "Even the authors that emphasize the existence of cross-cultural differences ... acknowledge that a nomothetic characterization of a country cannot apply equally to every member of its population." — From an article by Jaime Bonache et al. in the Journal of Business Research, December 2012 "Moreover, there is the often-incorrect assumption that crimes and offenders are sufficiently similar to be lumped together for aggregate study. In such cases the resulting nomothetic knowledge is not just diluted, it is inaccurate and ultimately misleading." — From Brent E. Turvey's 2011 book Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis, Fourth Edition Did you know? "Nomothetic" is often contrasted with "idiographic," a word meaning "relating to or dealing with something concrete, individual, or unique." Where "idiographic" points to the specific and unique, "nomothetic" points to the general and consistent. The immediate Greek parent of "nomothetic" is a word meaning "of legislation"; the word has its roots in "nomos," meaning "law," and "-thetēs," meaning "one who establishes." "Nomos" has played a part in the histories of words as varied as "metronome," "autonomous," and "Deuteronomy." The English contributions of "-thetēs" are meager ("nomothetic" is the only one in our Collegiate dictionary), but "-thetēs" itself comes from "tithenai," meaning "to put," and "tithenai" is the ancestor of many common words ending in "thesis"—"hypothesis," "parenthesis," "prosthesis," "synthesis," and "thesis" itself—as well as "theme," "epithet," and "apothecary."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 28, 2013 is: gambit \GAM-bit\ noun 1 : a chess opening in which a player risks minor pieces to gain an advantage 2 : a remark intended to start a conversation 3 : a calculated move Examples: Mentioning that he had nothing to do on Saturday night was an obvious gambit by Miles to get invited to Donna's party. "Square's gift card gambit is its latest stab at separating itself from a crowded field of competitors, including PayPal, Google, Intuit and Groupon." — From an article by Jon Swartz in USA Today, December 10, 2012 Did you know? In 1656, a chess handbook was published that was said to have almost a hundred illustrated "gambetts." That early spelling of "gambit" is close to the Italian word, "gambetto," from which it is derived. "Gambetto" was used for an act of tripping—especially one that gave an advantage, as in wrestling. The original chess gambit is an opening in which a bishop's pawn is sacrificed to gain some advantage, but the name is now applied to many other chess openings. After being pinned down to chess for about two centuries, "gambit" finally broke free of the hold and showed itself to be a legitimate contender in the English language by weighing in with other meanings.